God of Fire

The nightmare begins in the darkness
of starry skies. Simple pleasures of
people milling about the city park,
surrounded by shops and expectations
of uninterrupted normalcy. Bright light
streaks across the sky and blazing,
crashes into the nearby distance with
a shudder that shakes the earth. At once
terror overtakes as fire bellows and
engulfs the land, spreading like a ravenous
cancer. People screaming in horror, pain
and agony. Pleas to God go unheard and
unanswered. We are running, running
as fast as possible to anywhere as far
as possible. Yet it follows. Flame spreads
faster than seems possible. Flame stalks
us like a predator in the wild. Hours pass
and night does not abate. Running place
to place, finding no quarter, feeling as
though all is lost as the world is birthed
into an incarnation of eternal flame.
What will sate this new God of Fire?
How much flesh does he demand?
How much sacrifice? Can he be sated?
Exhausted, at last, I wake to shining
Sun, wondering when this judgment
will come.

A Distant Fire Burning

Everything aflame
Fire turning us to ash
So you dreamt
So you told me
It's raining today
and there's no place
for us to go
Stay here
Stay here
So we do
I sit next to you
Staring at the sky
through glass
Everything concealed
Everything revealed
Your hands reach
for me Gooseflesh
on my arms
Touch me again
Drive the cold away
Somewhere
a fire is burning
Somewhere
someone dances
beneathe falling ash

After the Fire

As the forests burn to ash and
the creatures flee from
the approaching flames
I watch from a distance as smoke
and death fill the air
A terrible beauty to see
destruction take hold
and life extinguished
When all is reduced to smoldering
dirt and cinders
what new life will take hold
from this pyre

Must the world be burning
Before we begin to save it?

Bareness

Season of bare branches
And frigid waters

Fruits have long been picked
Or fallen to the ground

Dead leaves are now hidden
Or swept away by wind

Nature sleeps soundly
As we scurry through cold

Fire as both death and life
We carry on

Head First Into the Flames

There is no running 
Only flame engulfing
Floors and walls alike
Running down halls
Air turning into noxious poison
How these moments pass
Submit or fight in futility
Die in struggle
Or succumb with no resistance

Autumn of burning
Air sits heavy over us
Smell of distant smoke

Recast

Cast me into the fire

              let my flesh melt

                        reduce me to base simplicity


Pour me into a new mold

              let me cool and harden

                        a new form  a new life


Life after death

             no   simply life and life

                                             and more life

If there is no fire
there are no ashes

If you want a revolution
light the fire
in your heart!

After the Fire

let our grief be shared

leaves will fall, forest persists

bears hibernating

I set myself on fire

and all I got were ashes.

that which feeds

Fluttering ash paints the sky
in smudges of orange
smearing together.

Uneasy silence pierced by
the steady arrival
of airplanes overhead.

There is a distance being
bridged as brush is consumed
and hills are blackened

by a relentless hunger
that knows no reason.

I am 

Shadow

& Fire.